I've tried and tried to understand what went on. For him to do this, something had to be wrong inside." - Beatrice Brown, grandmother of Dontae Callen

Dontae Callen

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - The jury in the
capital murder trial of a 20-year-old man charged in the 2010 stabbing deaths
of his aunt and two cousins has begun deliberating whether to recommend the
death penalty or life in prison without parole.

The jury
announced Thursday afternoon that they
had found Dontae Callen guilty of three counts of capital murder: death of
two or more people; death of a person under the age of 14; and deaths during
the commission of first-degree arson.

The trial,
which began Monday before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Laura Petro, is now in
the penalty phase.

Ron
Thrasher and Don Colee are representing Callen. Deputy Jefferson County
District Attorneys Patrick Lamb and Julie McMakin are prosecuting the case.

Lamb
and McMakin argued that the jury should consider three circumstances when
weighing their recommendation: Callen intentionally caused the death of two or
more people; the offense was especially heinous, atrocious and cruel; and, by
setting five fires, Callen knowingly put other residents of the apartment
complex and first responders at risk.

"This
defendant didn't think of them and didn't think of the neighbors," McMakin
said. "He only thought about himself and what he needed to do to get away with
this crime."

Colee
and Thrasher told the jury they didn't intend to excuse Callen's behavior, but
that they should take into consideration his youth, his difficult childhood and
his mental and emotional struggles.

"Nothing
is going to bring (the victims) back," Thrasher said. "Killing Dontae Callen
isn't going to bring them back. If he lives, there may be some kind of
redemption that takes place. Executing my client won't do anything except
continue the pain and suffering of this family."

A mental
health expert who testified for the defense said that after several
evaluations, he determined Callen had low intellectual functioning and suffered
dissociative episodes and post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from fear of
abandonment instilled as a child.

Lamb
disputed the defense expert's findings, saying they differed greatly from evaluations
conducted by other experts.

Beatrice
Brown, Bernice's sister and Callen's grandmother, testified about her grandson's
unstable life, calling him a "lost child" who bounced from home to home after
his mother decided she didn't want to raise him and his siblings.

"I've
tried and tried to understand what went on," Brown said. "For him to do this, something
had to be wrong inside."

Lisa Brown took the stand to speak for some members of the family, describing her mother
Bernice and brother Quortes as kind, mild-mannered people who never had a bad
word to say about anyone. Aaliyah was "a bright little girl" with a smile that
could light up a room, she said.

"We always
knew she would make something of herself, but now we'll never see the young
woman she would have grown into," Brown said. "We'll never see that smile on
her face again."

"I'm going
to burn in hell," a sobbing Callen told the investigator, saying he didn't know
why he stabbed his family members.

Callen
told police he was drinking beer with Quortes Kelly while the other two slept
in different rooms.

He
said he started stabbing his cousin with a knife he had found on the floor and
that he also stabbed Bernice Kelly when she awoke and confronted him, then
Aaliyah when she woke up.

Callen
told police he set fire to some clothing and left the apartment, discarding
evidence including knives and bloody bedding along a path from Kelly's Kingston
apartment to the Avondale apartment where he was staying.